Whenever Mike Martz comes back, the St. Louis Rams want him to return to a successful team.

Players insisted on Thursday, the day the 2-3 team returned to practice in preparation for a Monday night game at Indianapolis, they wouldn’t and couldn’t allow the absence of their ailing head coach to be a distraction.

“You have to prepare just like it’s normal,” linebacker Brandon Chillar said. “No one else cares that we don’t have a head coach, that’s how the league is.

“We’re preparing to win. Like Joe Vitt said, you have no other choice.”

Vitt, the assistant head coach and linebackers coach, will be in charge and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild will call the plays until Martz returns from an indefinite leave for a bacterial infection of a heart valve that an initial round of antibiotics failed to cure.

The 54-year-old Martz missed two practices last week but coached the team in a 37-31 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday before stepping aside the next day.

Team president John Shaw said earlier this week that the coach would be hospitalized for four to 12 days. He’s expected to miss at least two games, and could be out as many as six.

Injury update: New York Giants cornerback William Peterson is expected to miss a minimum of four to six weeks with a lower back injury. …

Buffalo Bills offensive guard Chris Villarrial returned to practice after spending Sunday night in the hospital because of an intestinal disorder that doubled him over in pain and limited his breathing, forcing him to miss Buffalo’s 20-14 win over Miami. …

Carolina Panthers running back Stephen Davis and fullback Brad Hoover remained questionable for Sunday’s game at Detroit but returned to practice, while backup DeShaun Foster (UCLA) missed his second day because of a sprained knee.

Roster moves: Rams safety Michael Hawthorne, who lost his starting job in last week’s loss to the Seahawks, was released.

Hawthorne, signed to a free agent contract in the offseason, started the first five games at free safety.

Sold out: The New Orleans Saints will play in front of their first “home” sellout Sunday against Atlanta as the team announced all 65,000 seats at the Alamodome in San Antonio have been bought.

Forced out of the Louisiana Superdome by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints will play their next four home games at LSU in Baton Rouge, La., before returning to the Alamodome for their final home game on Christmas Eve.

The sellout came despite uncertainty over the playing status of Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick, who is nursing a knee injury.

The Saints played in front of almost 59,000 in their first Alamodome game against Buffalo two weeks ago.